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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Microsoft paying YouTubers for positive Xbox One coverage ( edited with more info )

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Figgycal on 21 January 2014
ClassicGamingWizzz said:
Figgycal said:
Mr Puggsly said:
RawrJa said:
Mr Puggsly said:
Why is this a bad thing? MS is paying for advertising, no big deal.

If Youtubers are misleading people for money though, that isn't MS's problem.

It is bad because it is illegal. Youtubers are not to blame, MS is.


Paying someone to advertise and say good things about your product is not illegal. That's just how advertising works.

You ever see commericals where someone shits on a product? Ofcourse not, nobody would pay for that.

I'll repost my comment since you missed it:

OP is missing the bit that actually makes this news worthy: The arrangement as described might go against the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) guidelines for the use of endorsements in advertising, which demand full disclosure when there is "a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement."

Read the full article on ArsTechnica. Cinemablend's article is very comprehensive as well.

updated the OP

Cool, but you might want to trim it a little...



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JLC215 on 21 January 2014

Cash for comment been happening in print and news media for over 100 years - how is this any different. MS/Sony/Nintendo will all be doing it and you would be nieve to think that they weren't.



Mr Puggsly on 21 January 2014
KingdomHeartsFan said:
Mr Puggsly said:
Why is this a bad thing? MS is paying for advertising, no big deal.

If Youtubers are misleading people for money though, that isn't MS's problem.

Because they can't say they are under contract and they are not allowed to say anything bad about the X1, its good feedback or nothing.

I'm glancing through the contract and it seems those rules apply to the campaign video.

Maybe I missed it, but I don't think the contract says the channel has to become a marketing machine for MS.



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Somini on 21 January 2014

There is nothing wrong with advertising. Advertising this way is though, it's against the law even.



Normchacho on 21 January 2014

So quick question. Are the people supporting only doing it because it's MS or are they always this anti-consumer? Because I honestly don't see how this is anything like okay no matter what company is doing it.



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Figgycal on 21 January 2014
Somini said:
There is nothing wrong with advertising. Advertising this way is though, it's against the law even.

A lot of people seem to be missing the point of the story. Not that Microsoft is paying people to advertise for them- companies do it all the time. But that they're only allowed to be positive about the Xbox One and at the same time not tell their audience the're getting compensated for promoting the XboxOne is the issue.

Usually if people are getting compensated for promoting a product you hear "This video is brought to you by...." and so on. In commercials that use supposedly real consumers you'll see a disclaimer saying "paid actors" or "actual consumers that were compensated for their part in this commercial".

It's against the law to not have full disclosure.



Normchacho on 21 January 2014
Pemalite said:
Mr Puggsly said:


Paying someone to advertise and say good things about your product is not illegal. That's just how advertising works.

You ever see commericals where someone shits on a product? Ofcourse not, nobody would pay for that.


Agreed. It's like the whole purpose of "infomercials". - You NEVER see them say anything bad about the product, they just mindlessly drone on for hours about all the good stuff.

Anyway, I see no bad in this, Microsoft is kicking it's advertising gear into full to take the fight to it's competitors, which isn't bad by any stretch. (Ultimatly I would LOVE for all consoles to have a perfectly even amount of marketshare, it's what drives innovation and reduces prices in a capitalist world, but that's an idealism which probably won't occur.)

What? Except of course that at the begining of that infomercial it tells you it's a paid advertisment. It doesn't pretend to be an impartial, informative program and then try to sell you something. How is that so hard to see?



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MoHasanie on 21 January 2014

I don't get how this is against the law?? If it was then go sue MS.



    

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Mr Puggsly on 21 January 2014
Figgycal said:

I'll repost my comment since you missed it:

OP is missing the bit that actually makes this news worthy: The arrangement as described might go against the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) guidelines for the use of endorsements in advertising, which demand full disclosure when there is "a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement."

As long as people aren't being mislead, I don't see anything wrong.

So make a video talking about the console, talk about the games you're playing, and avoid shitting on the products. That seems like pretty straight forward advertising to me.



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Mr Puggsly on 21 January 2014
Somini said:
There is nothing wrong with advertising. Advertising this way is though, it's against the law even.


I didn't realize this forum had so many lawyers on it.



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